Australian Wood Duck

[Colin Driscoll]

Not so showy male Australian Wood Duck named because it nests in hollows and makes its ducklings jump out and fall to the ground.
1DXII 400mm F/2.8L II & 1.4XIII 560 mm 1/1600 f4 iso1600 +1ev
Cropped about 50%, levels and sharpen in PS. Toned the eye reflection a bit

[David Roach]

Beautiful composition overall. Love the colors,details(especially eye) and food item(complete with showing just stripped grass stalks}. Congrats. TFS

[John Mack]

Looks like the opposite of the wood ducks im used to seeing. Nice detail on the bird. The green background is lovely. Like the grasses at the bottom of the frame.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Different than our Wood Ducks for sure, but same nesting behaviour. Quite the cute duck, I like it. The taller pale oof grass does catch my eye, and you could remove it if you wish, but a strong portrait overall.

[gail bisson]

This is very good Colin.
I agree with Daniel about the OOF grass.
Great POV and I like the comp. IQ on the bird looks good.
Well done!
Gail

[Colin Driscoll]

Thanks for the comments. Yes, as is often the case, after posting I see things that need fixing so here's the result. I didn't like the white patch at the back of the head, and that oof yellow grass. Now I feel I have done the bird justice!

[gail bisson]

Repost brings this up to another level!

[Daniel Cadieux]

Yes! Subtle changes that bring huge difference :-)

[Arthur Morris]

Very nice as above. Talking about getting beaten to the punch, I was gonna suggest losing that one tall scraggly grass and the light area behind the head ... Well done open both especially the latter.

with love, artie